One of the biggest ways to ensure successful curbside recycling is to sort correctly. Although recycling programs are able to accept more and more items, there are many misconceptions about what needs to be kept out of the bin.

An important thing to know is that while our single-stream recycling (mixed recycling) does get sorted at a facility after it leaves your curbside, not everything can be recycled. Approximately 25 percent of what Newark residents place into the blue cart is not only trash, but contaminates other recyclables along the way. And those contaminated items also end up in the landfill.

The four basic groups of recyclables are: paper, metal, plastic and glass. In a perfect world, anything made out of these items would be recycled. But this is not the case — packaging can be deceptive, and many items are layered with different materials, making the recycling process difficult.

Let’s focus on some common disposable items, and in which cart they should be placed. One key point to remember is that food-soiled paper can never be recycled, and can only go into your green organics cart if it is free of plastic.

Single-use cups

Think you’re doing the right thing by tossing your morning coffee cup in the recycling cart? Paper coffee cups are lined with plastic, and cannot be recycled or composted. Even the lid needs to be tossed — just because it has a recycle symbol on it doesn’t mean it can be recycled. Styrofoam cups are also never recyclable or compostable.

Disposable plates

Most paper plates are lined with plastic, so they don’t leak. The issue? Even when clean, this is trash. Your best bet is to use a paper plate you know for sure isn’t lined with plastic, and then you can place them in the organics cart. Foam plates are also trash, and never recyclable or compostable.

Napkins, paper towels

The common misconception here is that many people think that because napkins and paper towels are made from paper, that they should be in the recycle cart. This is not the case. Oftentimes, these kinds of paper products are already made from recycled materials and in all cases, the fibers are too short to recycle into new paper again. Napkins and paper towels (unless soiled with something other than food), should go into the green organics cart and never in the blue recycle cart.

Pizza boxes

Cardboard is a great material to recycle, but not when it is soiled. Even just a little bit of grease or cheese on it poses an issue with recycling the material. Cardboard pizza boxes can go into the green organics bin — as long as it is not lined with plastic.

Food

You can see a common theme with all the other items listed — food. More often than not, plastic containers, glass jars and metal cans aren’t free of food waste when it’s time to recycle. If placed in the blue recycle cart, the residual food soils all the great paper products, and makes it impossible to recycle them. Your recycle cart shouldn’t smell — if it does, reconsider what you are placing in there. Bottom line: rinse any plastic or metal containers before recycling.

Jennifer Makin is a recycling coordinator at Republic Services, supporting the City of Newark’s recycling efforts. A Newark resident, she can be seen around the city auditing bins, implementing diversion programs at large businesses, training the staff at locally-owned restaurants, and educating students at Newark’s schools and community events. Have a recycling or sustainability question? Contact Makin at jmakin@republicservices.com.